The Passion of Palin: Separating Real Concerns From the Hysteria

By WSJ Staff

Steven Waldman is president and editor-in-chief of Beliefnet.com, and author of Founding Faith. Previously the national editor of U.S. News & World Report, he is a recognized expert on religion, social issues and politics. Click here for Waldman’s full bio.

The reaction to Sarah Palin’s religion reminds me of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ. The nation quickly divided into camps: one thought the film was horribly anti-Semitic and the other found it profoundly inspirational (and thought that anyone who said otherwise was anti-Christian.) Each side gravitated to the columnists, news channels and Web sites that fed their preconceived notions. Exaggeration became the norm and neither side could see the merits of the other’s arguments.

Gov. Palin has many on the left scared. She seems not so much President George W. Bush in lipstick as Jerry Falwell in lipstick. It’s one thing to have one of “Those Crazies” lobbying the White House. It’s another to have one running it. Meanwhile, Christians are inspired by the Alaska governor — not just because she’s pro-life or Christian but because she seems to “walk the walk.” It’s precisely because Falwell and Bush have put forward such a mixed image for Christianity that many Christians thirst for a leader who shares their values but lives her life in accordance with them. Such Christians view attacks on Gov. Palin as attacks on Christians in general, which means the more she is criticized — the more persecuted she seems — the more Christ-like she’ll become, and the more beloved.

In the midst of such a stew of fear, infatuation and defensiveness, accurately assessing the woman’s views on religion and politics becomes quite difficult. Almost any peep out of her mouth related to God will seem terrifying to those who fear the religious right — and magnificent to those who want to believe in Gov. Palin.

Let’s try to sort out what’s blown out of proportion and which causes of legitimate concern.

BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION

Iraq as God’s Plan: The Huffington Post and other blogs made a big deal out of Gov. Palin’s comments that members of the church should pray “that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.” Critics thought she was justifying the Iraq war to be part of God’s plan.

Actually, she may have meant almost the opposite — that people should pray that the war IS part of God’s plan. This is a totally appropriate desire for a Christian — and for a Christian politician. All Christian politicians should aspire to do God’s will.

End Times: She used to attend a Pentecostal church that believed in End Times. So what. Most people who believe in End Times theology do not alter their lives on the assumption the end is nigh. It would be notable if End Times theology prompted a politician to change his policies — for instance under-emphasizing environmental protection because the world will be over soon, or encouraging war in the middle east to hasten the return of Christ. But most End Times believers don’t go this far and there’s no evidence that Gov. Palin has.

Biblical Literalism: “The churches that Sarah has attended all believe in a literal translation of the Bible,” John Kinkaid, a friend, told The New York Times. This understandably scares those who don’t take the Bible literally. So will she support stoning prostitutes to death just because it’s in the Bible? Not to worry. Almost no Christian who says they believe in the literal Bible actually live their life that way. Conservative Bible-believing Christians tend to focus on the passages related to life and marriage; liberals tend to focus on those related to poverty; and both toss the clearly anachronistic parts. It’s worth probing this more but this is not by itself either good or bad. The Times also reported, in the second paragraph of their front-page story, that “She asked [her pastor] for a biblical example of people who were great leaders and was the secret of their leadership.” Far from ominous, it seems to me that’s the sort of faith-influence that even non-believers should cheer, trying to find lessons of ethics and character in scripture.

WORRISOME ISSUES

Having punctured some of the over-reactions, I have to say that Gov. Palin has said and done some things that go over the line of what we’ve long considered appropriate for politicians talking about faith.

Invoking Divine Support for Pet Projects: She told a group of young church leaders to pray for a gas pipeline because it was God’s will. “God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built. So pray for that.” This is well beyond what President Bush customarily said. Asserting that God endorses a particular energy strategy or public works project is exactly the sort of mindset the Founders feared. The vote-for-this-because-God-says-so approach means that those who oppose a particular policy are violating God’s will — and good Christians should view them that way. It turns policy issues into religious conflicts. Such a politician may be impervious to reason, evidence or compromise. If God has blessed an idea — and told you so personally — what possible argument could dissuade you?

Dividing the Electorate Into Believers (Helpful) and Non-Beleivers (A Hindrance): Gov. Palin suggested that her work as governor would be hampered “if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God.” That means that if Gov. Palin fails, it will be in part because non-believers have not been “right” with God. So we’ll certainly know who to blame. It also ascribes largely spiritual explanations to the success or failure of policy, which makes assessing her performance nearly impossible. If she stumbles, it’s our fault.

Insensitivity to Religious Minorities: There’s been much attention to Gov. Palin having sat in the audience during a sermon from the head of Jews for Jesus, an organization most Jews find offensive. Honestly, a lot of the reason folks became so exercised with this is as kharmic retribution for the right holding Sen. Obama accountable for the sermons of Jeremiah Wright. I doubt this Jews for Jesus sermon would have gotten any attention without the Wright precedent. Until we know whether Gov. Palin herself actually agreed with this, then this sermon should be no more held against Gov. Palin than Mr. Wright was against Sen. Obama — and actually less so since it was a one-shot guest sermon.

What should be of concern to religious minorities is that Palin signed a resolution establishing a Christian Heritage Week. It didn’t actually declare the U.S. to be an officially Christian nation but it plucked Founding Fathers quotes way out of context to misleadingly imply they were devout Christians. In many other cases, this same technique has been used to promote the argument that America was created to be a Christian nation, and separation of church and state is a myth. Now, I’m willing to drop this from the list if can be shown that also has a Jewish Heritage and Muslim Heritage and Secular Heritage Week (I’m not holding my breath). That would mean she wasn’t giving preference to one religion over another.

Apparently, it's more honourable to be GAY than a christian. Otherwise, some people will not be making such ridiculous comments as above.

It's people who have not faced real tragedy in life (and survived) who brush off the ideals of christianism. Being a christian is not a 'religion' but a way of life and I subscribe to PALIN openingly declaring her beliefs as a christian.

To all those 'lose crack heads' bashing PALIN about being inexperienced and a hockey mom and other such nonsensical ramblings, what experience does OBAMA have? zilch. he only rambles about change....without defining the parameters of the change. McCain has served his country with dedication and PALIN's son has been deployed to Iraq. In effect, the republican team of McCain and PALIN are walking the talk while tha

12:00 pm September 27, 2008

Naa wrote :

I can't believe how stupid and degenerate some of these comments are.

If I wasn't sure before about where to vote, now I'm definitely sure it WOULD NOT be OBAMA. Definitely not.

It was this distortion by media outlets like CNN, CBS, etc. of what PALIN represents that caused me to go to WIKIPEDIA to find out more about her. For once I got an unbiased version of SARAH PALIN, her life and activities. It then made me to understand why people feel threatened by her and are all sorts of crazy propaganda to bring her down. Actually, it's having the opposite effect. PALIN is smarter than most give her credit for, and come november, 2008 she will be definitely the vice president of the united states of america.

5:52 pm September 25, 2008

Anonymous wrote :

You will all suck the diseased cock of the Pentecostal Christ.

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